Automatic brake for tube recoil-guns.



K. VOLLER. AUTOMATIC BRAKE FOR TUBE RBGOIL GUNS.

PATENTED APR. 24, 1906.

APR. .1904. f, 7 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

APPLICATION FILED No. 818,801. PATENTED APR. 24, 1906. K. VOLLER.

AUTOMATIC BRAKE FOR TUBE REOOIL GUNS.

APPLICATION PILEDAPR. 1

7 4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Z/ INVENTUR 0Z7 9 may No. 818,801 PATENTED APR. 24, 1906.

- K. VOLLER.

AUTOMATIC BRAKE FOR TUBE RBGOIL GUNS.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7. 1904- INVENTU W R I YA ga -m l mb;

guns,

,tional to the angle through which that the shortening UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KARL voLLRR, or nnssELnoRr, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR 'ro RHEINISGHE METALLWAREN UND MASCHINENFABRIK, or nnssELnoRr DEREN- DORF, GERMANY.

AUTOMATIC BRAKE FOR TUBE RECOlL-GUNS- Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April 7,1904. Serial No. 202,042.

No. 818,801, Patented April 24, 1906.

tion, -or if the recoil in this position be the maximum amount permittedby the clearance-space between the end of the un and the ground then at other angles of e evation somewhat less than the maximum the recoil will be so great as to bring the gun in contact with the ground. Hence it is advantageous, and, in fact, necessary, to depart from the above-mentioned practice of making the decrease in length of recoil a regular function of the angle of elevation, and since such departure was impossible with prior devices To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, KARL VoLLER, engil neer, a subject of the German Emperor, residing at 47 Ziilicherstrasse, Dusseldorf, Germany, have invented certain new and useful improvements in devices for automatically changing the efiect of the brake in tube recoil-guns having a hydraulic brake; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,- such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In guns having a recoil-tube which must shoot with a high elevation devices have been roposed for varying the resistance of the rake to corres ond with the different elevations of the tulie, and particularly to bring about a variation in the length of the recoil. In guns of this kind having hydraulic brakes the aforesaid effects are achieved, for example, by causing the piston-rod or the brake-. cylinder to turn, and thus to change the position of the internal organs of the brake-for example, the position of a piston-valve.

There afe provided devices whereby the rotation of the piston-rod or of the brake-cylinder necessary for varying the action of the brake or the length of recoil is effected by the act of elevating the gun.

If the upper carriage terminates near the shield or the trunnions, it is comparatively easy to derive the rotation of the piston-rod or of the brake-cylinder from the movement which elevates the tube by the intermediary of toothed wheels, worms, or the like and] a toothed segment. In usually-constructed however, in which the trunnions are approximately in the middle of the upper gun-carriage difficulties of construction present themselves. Moreover, derivation of the movement through toothed gearing has the disadvantage that the angle of rotation through which the piston-rod or the brakecylinder is turned is always directly proport e tube is act of elevation. It follows I of the length of recoil is also directly proportional to the angle of ele- Vation. As a result of this the locus of the end points of the recoil forms an arc of a spiral, thus giving an unnecessarily short recoil for the gun in its position of maximum elevamit it to be done. Therefore the present mvention relates to aconstruction by -means of which in the actof elevating the gun the variation of the working of the brake can follow according to any desired law and not merely directly proportional to the angle of elevation. By the employment of such a construction the recoil instead of being in a constant ratio to the angle of elevation of the gun may be in varying ratios to such angle of elevationthat is to say, the shortening of the recoil may have one ratio through a certain portion of the arc of elevation and a different ratio through some other portion. of the arc of elevation, thereby attaining the very important advantage that the leng h of recoil of the gun for each angle of elevation may be predetermined not by What the recoil is at some other angle of elevation, but by the conditions to be met at that particular angle of elevation, such as the component of the weight of the gun to be resisted by the recoil device, the clearance between the end of the gun at its limit of recoil and the ground, and the extent to which the recoil of the gun can be trans mitted to the ground.

Inithe accompan 'ng drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic si e elevation of a tube recoil-gun in a horizontal and an inclined position wherein a curve points of the recoil in which at one position suddenly changes its direction. Fig. 2- shows a gun constructed according to this invention in a position of elevation, the figure being a side elevation in section through the gun-carriage, a part of the brake-cylinder and of the piston-rod, as well as the wall of the upper gun-carriage, bel ing broken away. Fig. 3 is a cross-section turned by the shortening of the length of is given for the end. the different positions I have produced the present invention to per- 1 I sition.

" sition of elevation shown in still greater elevation, the curve .2 a: must seenthat the horizontal position, the

the dotted line x a: y is shorter in the position of elevation than in the horizontal position. In the pothe figure the linder would be in gun-tube and the brake-c if'the recoil were contact with. the groun not shortened, and in order cautions must be taken. I The termination 'oi'therecoil inthe position between the horizontal and the elevated position shown are along the curve 23. If however, the gun is atany time firefdat a not --follow its former course, since in thatcase I soon be in contact 'sential; therefore, that from a certain position ofelevation the shortening oithe recoil must the gun tube or the brake cylind'er would with the ground. It is esbe more rapid than before, so that .thepart I r is different along the my of the curve becomes approximately hori the ratio of the short d zontalthat is to say, ening of the recoil to the angle of elevation part a 'g o'f the curve from what it is along the part x at. For the purpose of accomplishing this result I pro vide means for shortening the length of the recoil in varying ratios to the angle of elevation, and this means is automatic in its action, so that it is only necessary to elevate the gun in the usual way to bring about the desired shortening of the len th of the recoil in the appropriate ratio to file angle of elevation.

In the present example there is provided a cam device having an operative surface which is curved according to the curve to be formed by the locus of the limits of recoil at the different angles of elevation. This cam device is carried by an immovable part of the gun-carriage and its said operative surface is engaged by a part so fixed to the swinging part of the gun-such as, for instance, to the uppergun-carriagethat it receives when the gun-tube and the upper gun-carriage swing a movement in a plane which is vertical to the longitudinal extension of the upper gun-carriage by'virtue of its engagement with the predetermined curve. This movement may then be translated through any desired means )f translation into the necessary rotatory movement of the piston-rod or the brake- :ylinder.

In the form shown in Fig. 2, a is the gunon the upper gun-carriage The upper gunin which it can ube, which slides 1n the known manner. arriage rests in a carrier 0,

to avoid this p re fixed acam device h, which in the resent inmove sidewise on a pivot. The carrier cris stationary when it is unlimbered, while thegun-tube, the upper gun-carriage, and the brake mechanism contained therein swing in the lower gun-carriage on the trunnions d wheneverthe angular position of the tube is to be moved fromthe horizontal.

In the upper gun-carriage is fixed the rotatory piston-rod 1 which carries the pistonvalve in the bra e-cylinder g, firmly con; nected with the guntube.- The opening of this valve-piston can be varied by the rotation of the piston-rod forjthe purpose of varying the length of recoil. The construction of this piston-valve is no ,part of the 1 present invention.

On the side e of the gun-carriage there is stance has a cam-groove; I In t 's groove slides a pint, which pro ects from a shchng piece orslide Zr into the groove. Theslide k is slid ably connected with a part,

i such as the tube-carrier c, which sharesthe swinging movement of the. tubein a vertical plane;

I The front part of the middle line of the I l curved cam-groove it lies nearer to the axis of rotation of the trunnions d than the rear part oes. If now the tube, together with the 95 parts in connection withit, is brought from the horizontal position, Fig. 4, to the inclined position, Fig. 2, the pint, together with the slide 7c, makes a relative-movement upwardly and vertically to the upper gun-carriage in consequence of the engagement of the pin i in the curved cam-groove h, as will be seen from Figs. 5 and 3. In consequence of this the slide turns an arm Z upward, which arm is mounted on a shaft m, carrying a toothed segment 0. The latter engages with a toothed segment p, mounted on the pistonrod f. In this manner there is imparted to the piston-rod by the upward movement of the slide it a rotation the relation of which to I the swinging of the gun-tube of the upper gun-carriage is determi ed by the curve of the cam device h.

The form shown in Figs.'6 and 7 is distinguished from that described above in that the I I 5 tube-carrier c is fixed to the upper gun-carriage b. In this case the slide in may be directly united to the upper gun-carriage. The lateral turning movement is in this case rendered possible by making the upper part 9 of 1 the under gun-carriage to rotate relatively to the bottom part on a pivot r. As in the case of the form shown in Figs. 2 to 5, in conse uence of rotating the upper gun-carriage on t e pivot in the tube-carrier c the longitudi- 125 nal axis of the upper gun-carriage may at times form a small angle with the surface of the tube-carrier, which remains parallel to the longitudinal axis of the carriage, the separation of the shaft m from the slide Z: is 1 0 somewhat changed. This condition is allowed for by coupling the slide and the arm I to ether only in a vertical direction, while in a horizontal direction the movement in opposite directions is ossible. In the form shown in Figs. 6 an 7 the variation of the separation between the shaft m and the slide 76 does not occur.

It is obvious, of course,- that the slide is may be omitted and the cam device arranged to operate the arm 1 directly.

It will be noted that by emplo 'ng a cam device for adjusting the means or varying the length of the recoil I provide an arbitrarilyacting mechanismfor shortening the length of recoil of the recoil device, for the reason that a cam device can be constructed with any desired configuration of operatingface, thus enabling it to act arbitrarily, or, in other words, without regard to any mathematical law of proportion in varying the adj ustment of the recoil device.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination, with a gun mounted for movement through different angles of elevation, and a device for regulating the recoil of the gun, of means actuated by theangular movement of the gun and arran ed to shorten the recoil in varying ratio to t e angular movement of the gun.

2. The combination, with a gun mounted for movement through different angles of ele-' vation, and a device for regulating the recoil of the gun, of a variable-movement transmission device arran ed to transmit the an-v the recoil device, and a-cam device having a curved operatlve surface arranged to ad ust said means.

4. The combination, with. a gun-carriage and a gun mounted thereon and adjustable to different angles of elevation, of a recoil device arranged to check the recoil of the gun,

a cam device having a curved operative surface and means for shortening the length of recoil of the recoil device, said means being movable with relation to andarranged to be adjusted by the cam device.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature to this specification in the presence 60 of two witnesses.

KARL VOLLER.

Witnesses PETER LIEBER, EMMA HERBER. 

